Austin Hays 2020

[Frobby]

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“We all saw in September what he can do and we’ve all known it for a while,” Mancini said. “He’s just had a couple of really unfortunate setbacks injury-wise, and to have Austin healthy and for him to showcase what he can do all of September ... He had so many highlight reel plays that were some of the best catches in MLB last year, and it feels like he was there all year almost, but he was there for a month.

“It’s so great to have him out there and I’m really excited and yeah, curious to see what it will be like to have him there all year, because I think he’s going to be a force in the league.”

Let the feel-good talk begin!   

https://www.masnsports.com/school-of-roch/2020/02/mancini-on-hays-i-think-hes-going-to-be-a-force-in-the-league.html

[Es4M11]

Wasn't Hays like the 26th rated prospect in baseball at one point? To the point there were even some 60 grades on him a couple years ago? That shine tarnished pretty quickly after the injuries. Very interested to see what he can do with a full season of (hopefully) good health. Personally, I feel pretty bullish on his prospects.

[wildcard]

1 hour ago, Es4M11 said:

Wasn't Hays like the 26th rated prospect in baseball at one point? To the point there were even some 60 grades on him a couple years ago? That shine tarnished pretty quickly after the injuries. Very interested to see what he can do with a full season of (hopefully) good health. Personally, I feel pretty bullish on his prospects.

Some good points.  I think Hays combines all that.  Highly talented and productive when healthy but his style of play may limit how much he is healthy enough to perform at that level.

[interloper]

I'm less concerned about injuries than I am the possibility he gets exposed at the plate. But excited to find out.

[Philip]

“Can we have nice things?”

 

Hays is a valuable part of our team this year, He and Harvey should both be in the running for rookie of the year, and if he avoids injuries,  I can’t imagine he won’t get votes. Even if he’s just “average“ well, my God, people, how long is it been since we had somebody who is “average“ in centerfield? Even Mr. Jones wasn’t average his last few years, and we all loved him. But I expect that Hays Will be very successful. I wouldn’t even be surprised to see him asked about in trade talks.

[tntoriole]

If he is healthy, I can see him having a Ramon Laureano type season....870 OPS, 3.5- 4 WAR. 

[Philip]

3 hours ago, tntoriole said:

If he is healthy, I can see him having a Ramon Laureano type season....870 OPS, 3.5- 4 WAR. 

I’m sure everyone would sign up for that in blood. But I don’t think that is an unreasonable expectation. Let’s meet back here in October and see what is to be seen.

[oriole]

5 hours ago, tntoriole said:

If he is healthy, I can see him having a Ramon Laureano type season....870 OPS, 3.5- 4 WAR. 

I think that’s absolute best case scenario. I’d love to see it but I highly doubt it happens.

[Gatoriole]

I think I like him better than most here. To, me the big questions are:

1) health (obviously); and 

2) consistency 

I think he has a lot of upside though.

[Just Regular]

The foundation of my optimism:

https://fantasy.fangraphs.com/upgrading-a-deserved-barrel/

 

In the big table on this Alex Chamberlain piece, Hays was 2nd in Launch Angle tightness, and 4th in "most lost deserved barrels".  His September was pretty good regardless.

[Pickles]

Questions for Hay this season in order of importance imo:

1) Can he stay healthy?

2) Is he a legit everyday CFer defensively?

3) He can hit.  How much is the question.

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[billw76]

I'm as big a Hays fan as anyone, and I have my hopes set pretty high for him this season. If he can stay healthy I'd like to see how well he can handle CF all season, and offensively I'd like to see him perform like he did in his call up last year or similar to his 2017 minor league season.

[Moose Milligan]

I'm expecting Mike Trout.  Anything short of that is failure.

[sportsfan8703]

Hays and Harvey, just need to stay healthy. They’ll be ok. 

[Frobby]

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Hays got some input about his winter before he left the team at the end of last season.

“The biggest thing was they wanted me to have a healthy offseason,” he said. “So give my body time to rest and try to be as athletic as possible coming into spring training. Talking to our strength and performance coordinators, a big part of that was trying to get as strong as I could at a light weight. Seasons in the past, I’ve come into spring heavier. I tried to put on weight and get bigger and stronger. This year, I did a lot more sprint work and had a lot different diet plan where I could stay light. And try to get strong at that weight so I could be faster and more physical coming in. Just trying to be as athletic as possible. No bumps in the road, the ankle is feeling great. Feel 100 percent coming into spring.”

https://www.masnsports.com/steve-melewski/2020/02/hays-and-mountcastle-ready-for-season-ready-to-make-their-marks.html